Watch your step! That first one is doozie! We have all heard the phrase, “push baby bird out of the nest.” The idea being that at some point in our lives we will have to figure out if we can fly (read: succeed, on our own). We must prove to others and ourselves that what our guardians, parents, mentors, faith communities, school, life experiences, and self reflection have taught us have made us into capable and competent human beings. Let me ask you this, did you learn to swim before or after you got in the pool?

Welcome to Push the Bird. It is a leader’s job to exemplify, challenge, and inspire others to maximize their potential. It’s a leader’s job to push others out of the nest, push them out of their comfort zone. That is what I am hoping Push the Bird will help us all do. Because the moment that you don’t think anything needs to change, is the exact moment it does. Grow with us and feel free to giggle at our delightful wittiness.

A couple things you need to keep in your head while reading our posts… First, know that if I, James Robilotta, am writing a post, I’m looking #PinterestFresh with my beard on point and am constantly getting distracted by my spontaneous need to freestyle rap. Also, know that backing up every post from Push The Bird are countless hours of being a student leader, working with student leaders, and a delightful amount over-analyzing everything.

Lastly, know that with Push The Bird it is my hope to authentically create tangible and relatable seeds for you to take and plant in your own leadership development garden. I will also have awesome student leaders, jazzy student affairs professionals, and business execs write posts for Push the Bird. While I cannot speak for the freshness level of anyone else who writes posts, trust that nothing less than boss-status wordsmiths will be accepted.

So what happens now? Every week, I will send 1 email to all subscribers with 1-2 brief snapshots on leadership. We’ll discuss topics ranging from member recruitment to retention, from shaking hands to social justice, from communication to courtship, from.. you get the point. Sound like something you want to be a part of? Then sign-up here! If you are in, thank you, please try the Kool-Aid. If you would like to see older posts please check out our archive. Finally, feel free to send any feedback and/or ideas to Pushthebird@gmail.com.